Indebted
by Wishing-for-a-Wand
Summary: The events of the Promised Day have left them all owing something to one another. Roy and Riza say their thank-yous.


Indebted

* * *

The tall man - Falman - politely held the door for her while she stepped inside the hospital room. The walls were stark and two cots occupied most of the space in the room. It was rather like another room just down the hall where Mei had said her goodbyes to the newly restored Alphonse Elric. It was time to be heading back to her own country, but before the Xingese party could set out across the desert, Mei had been approached by the silver haired man, her presence requested in a different hospital ward.

She was hesitant to accept the invitation; her new traveling companions were eager to be away, and she didn't want to hold up their journey. But this was a hospital full of injured soldiers and civilians. What if there was a need for her medical alcahestry? Delay or not, she'd not turn her back on someone she could help.

But this room held only one patient - though the second bed bore marks of someone's occupancy - and he was sitting upright, eyes closed, looking expectant rather than pained. Mei stepped farther into the room, quietly approaching the figure.

"You wanted to see me, Colonel?"

His dark head rose at Mei's words, his face turned attentively toward her. It was a convincing parody until she noticed the way his blank eyes overestimated her height and gazed inches above her head.

His lips quirked humorlessly, and Roy Mustang closed his eyes again. "If that's all I wanted, I'm afraid I'd be disappointed."

Mei's hands rushed up to cover her mouth, the movement causing Xiao May to squeak on her shoulder. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I forgot … your eyes…"

Mustang waved a bandaged hand, dismissing her apology. His eyes opened again and gauged her height a little more correctly. "Lost sight aside, I really wanted to talk to you." His voice lowered. "About what happened in the tunnels."

It seemed that this wasn't a medical call at all, but Mei couldn't quite guess what the Colonel was getting at. She'd only met him that once - in the tunnels below Central where they'd fought briefly beside one another. Everything else she knew about the man was from Edward and Alphonse. They deemed him someone worth trusting, but she couldn't yet guess his intentions with this meeting.

"Yes?"

"Miss Chang," he began, his voice solemn and formal, his eyes resolutely staring just left of her face. "Thank you for what you did for my subordinate. I owe you a debt of gratitude. If there is ever anything I can give you, it's yours." He gave her a tight smile. "And I have big dreams for my role in this country, so don't hesitate to collect. I owe you my life."

Mei puzzled over his words and the magnanimity of his offer. "But I…" She didn't really know this man. And it wasn't his life she'd saved in the city's hidden tunnels. It was the woman with him - who he'd clung to so desperately Mei feared her wounds would reopen. "Oh."

Mustang nodded in her direction, his sincerity broadcast in his unseeing eyes. "Thank you."

The Xingese princess bowed slightly, no matter that the colonel couldn't see the gesture. "I'm just grateful that I was in a position to help save your love."

His face grew suddenly unreadable, but his voice carried an unmistakable fondness. "Don't be ridiculous, Miss Chang. Hawkeye is my irreplaceable lieutenant."

"Of course," she said after a moment. Despite the chastisement, Mei allowed herself a small smile. She knew what she had read in the colonel's actions. "I wish there was something I could do to help you, Colonel. But I'm afraid even alcahestry can't do anything for eyes taken in the Portal of Truth."

She really was sorry for it, but Mustang tossed his head in a rueful shrug. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure I'll find a way to manage." He paused and she watched his sightless eyes wander to the room's second bed. "At the end of the day, that's a loss I can survive."

* * *

The hospital garden was a small patch of greening earth hemmed in by walls of concrete. Perhaps if the Promised Day had occurred later in the year there would have been some flowers to adorn it, but presently there was nothing but a single bench and the newly sprouting grass. And a solitary visitor.

The woman was without a wheel chair, but an IV pole stood propped beside her, hinting at her need for hospitalization. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed deeply but carefully, savoring the fresh air and mindful of the bandage wrapping her neck.

Izumi watched her a moment through the glass pane of the door. She recognized Riza Hawkeye; even a simple housewife who preferred to stay out of politics knew the heroes of the Ishvalan War. What she didn't know was why the famed sniper had asked to speak with her.

Edward had delivered the message dismissively, suggesting that it was nothing urgent. However, his old teacher knew that Ed was too quick to dismiss feelings and problems he didn't share. There was likely more going on here than her pupil knew or understood.

As soon as she pushed the door open, the soldier's eyes were on her, wide and alert. Izumi watched the other woman's gaze relax as she assured herself there was no danger. "Thank you for coming," Hawkeye said, indicating the bench beside her.

Her voice was quiet, her recent injury making it hoarse. Izumi knew that her wound had been sealed with alcahestry; that procedure likely the only thing that could have saved her voice. It had certainly saved her life.

"What can I do for you?"

Hawkeye inclined her head, running the finger of one hand across the nails of the other. She didn't seem the kind of person prone to fidgeting, and the hesitant gesture was swiftly gone. The younger woman met her eyes straight on.

"Mrs. Curtis, I wanted to offer my thanks."

The alchemist smiled in mild surprise. Even in the short time since the battle she'd been offered the thanks of the nation for her service, but Hawkeye's thanks felt personal. She was referring to a specific action, something that had deeply affected this woman's life. "There's a lot of that going around," Izumi agreed. "We all owe something to each other after the Promised Day. But I don't remember being of particular service to you."

The sniper was silent a moment, and her next words carried a tone of remorse, of guilt. "You assisted the Colonel, keeping him out of harm in the darkest part of the battle and helping him deal with the initial shock of his injury." Her delivery seemed almost rehearsed - a sentiment of thanks that also felt like a litany of failure. "I wanted to thank you for being there when I could not be."

Izumi nodded in understanding. She knew it was Hawkeye's job to protect and fight alongside Mustang. She'd heard it was a duty the woman took extremely seriously. Now she understood why.

"Now I see. You and your Colonel are most welcome," she said, waving off the thanks, "though I did what any simple housewife would have done. And he did plenty of the work of surviving on his own. That man of yours is a fighter."

Hawkeye gave a slight smile, mention of her commander softening her expression. "He is that. Though that doesn't always keep him _out _of trouble."

Izumi chuckled. "No. He reminds me of my boys in that." She studied Hawkeye's face a moment. "You know, I may owe a similar thank-you to the Armstrongs for fighting beside my own lover when I couldn't."

Hawkeye's movements grew methodical and her features schooled themselves. "I think you're mistaken, ma'am. Colonel Mustang is my commanding officer."

Izumi allowed herself a knowing smile and patted the other woman's knee. "Lieutenant, I've been lucky enough to spend the better part of my life in love. I think I know what it looks like."

The younger woman gave no verbal acknowledgement of Izumi's words, but her eyes carried all the unspoken care needed to prove her right. "Nevertheless. Thank you."

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Fin.

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There you go! Please let me know what you think in a review!


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